This invention relates to a machine for forming large cylindrical bales of a windrowed crop material and more particularly to a conveyor unit which will deliver a bale, once it is discharged from the bale forming chamber, to a ground location rearwardly clear of the bale discharge gate.
In a usual bale discharge operation of a large bale forming machine the bale hits the ground adjacent the rear end of the machine so that insufficient clearance takes place between the bale and the open bale discharge gate. The bale thus interferes with the movement of the discharge gate to its closed position to define the bale forming chamber. Until the discharge gate is closed, any material supplied to the bale forming chamber passes through the chamber for discharge to the ground. It is necessary, therefore, that the machine be advanced a distance along a windrow to clear the gate for closing before another bale forming operation can be initiated. However, this procedure results in a portion of the windrowed material being lost in the field.
To overcome these problems, some baler machines have bale forming belts selectively controlled for a reverse rotational action on the bale to facilitate its discharge from the machine as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,208,862; 4,218,866; 4,258,619; 4,262,478; 4,296,596; 4,238,919 and 4,393,764. Other baler machines utilize kicker mechanisms for propelling the bale to a location rearwardly of the machine as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,206,587; 4,406,221; and 4,458,587. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,176, the tail or discharge gate is movable forwardly and upwardly to a bale discharge position so as to be clear of the bale when it is dropped from the machine.
In the present invention, the baler machine is equipped with a bale conveyor unit that receives a bale discharged from the bale forming chamber and then automatically conveys the bale to a location rearwardly clear of the machine's discharge gate and out of the path of travel followed by the gate as it closes. The machine, therefore, can immediately initiate a next baling operation to eliminate material passing directly through an open bale forming chamber to the ground, and the necessity of the machine traveling over the windrowed material before the discharge gate can be moved to the closing position therefor without interference from the discharged bale.